In America mental illness is a growing problem that is steadily rising in numbers. According to NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, “One in four adults—approximately 57.7 million Americans— experience a mental health disorder in a given year.One in 17 lives with a serious mental illness such as schizophrenia, major depression or bipolar disorder and about one in 10 children live with a serious mental or emotional disorder” (nami.org). When those numbers are broken down the major players in the game are depression and anxiety who lead in the most cases following bipolar disorder and schizophrenia in that order. And people are having these problems affect them for a lifetime. 5.2 have recurring mental illness and according to NAMI 31 percent of that use services for the homeless and usually have a combination of several disorders. Most cases start around the young ages of 14-24 and many will have a lifetime problem of their illness even with treatment
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